Very disturbing news. I suggest that all readers here should refrain from taking any pictures at this specific roost until further notice, and it may be possible to determine who did it. Hopefully they can be punished for this blatant destruction of state property, and perhaps even for disturbing wildlife (a more egregious offense as far as we are all concerned, but sadly, in court the former one would raise more interest from a prosecutor). I suggest carefully looking at any recent pictures of long-eared owls, and it may be possible to figure out who did it by looking carefully at their picture, in particular at the tree. I took several pics there and I am sure many others have as well, and all my pics have branches etc. in the way that partially obscure the owl. If you find a Long-eared Owl photo with no branches in the way, it would be fairly simple to compare the tree in it, and determine if it is the same tree minus branch/es, and check the date it was taken. I assume the park or a local birder has a relatively good estimate when the cutting occurred. A picture may not be a smoking gun, but at least an official could discuss the seriousness of this offense with the photographer, and if it was an honest case of really bad judgement and they din't know the species' sensitivities they can get a hard lesson. Or, if they just don't care and may do it again somewhere else, knowing their identity could help to keep a future eye on them.
Of course it was a photographer. It is almost unbelievable that someone can be that ignorant, too bad ignorance isn't painful. It always boils down to use of discretion and how well an observer understands a species' behavior and its sensitivities. Birders are as much in need of a better understanding of this as photographers, and we all can recall a "learning experience" where you realize afterwards that the amazing experience you just had watching a species may have been very disturbing to that individual, and hopefully you may be able to do it differently next time to avoid disturbing it. I have to say from my experience working at 5 National Parks and Wildlife Refuges, I have seen more photographers who are unaware of these sensitivities than birders. It is very common to see visitors at Assateague Island or where ever, drive or walk right up to wildlife in order to get a picture. Although I have done this myself, we should try to use discretion with the well being of the bird or animal having priority over getting any picture, and try to know whether we are disturbing it before we do so, or if you don't know then simply don't take the chance.
Assateague and most national parks or wildlife refuges where this is an issue usually post obvious signs all over about approaching wildlife (Do not do it, you can be fined), yet the signs are ignored routinely. Also, quite often a photographer wants a subject to move or do something else, that way they can get various photos (poses), and I have seen photographers disturb a subject just to get it to move or do something more photogenic. While some birders may want to get closer to get a better view, especially if all they have to use are binoculars, I think many birder tend to like or even prefer when the subject stays still, and avoid doing something to spook the subject, since it provides a better opportunity to see field marks and study it.
Jeff Shenot
Croom MD
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